SOUNDPOST

Letters, emails, online comments

LETTER of the MONTH

STARKER PHOTO SAM FALK

SAME DIFFERENCE Mats Lidström’s article (‘A small but crucial omission’, January 2022) on the last five bars of the Prelude to Bach’s Second Cello Suite confused me. As a cellist, I know the piece quite well, but he was talking about five bars of chords and suggesting that we break those chords up and play them arpeggiated. But I didn’t remember five bars of chords at all. So I pulled out my trusty (and tattered) volume of Bach Cello Suites – the 1971 Peer International edition edited by János Starker.

I always liked Starker because he seemed so fierce. I once had the opportunity to chat to him when he came to Berkeley to play in the Berkeley Symphony’s tribute to his good friend and compatriot Laszlo Varga and I was somehow tagged to drive him from the hotel to Zellerbach Hall. While I had him as a captive audience, I asked him how he came up with the specific bowings and fingerings for his editions. He said that he just used whatever he had played most recently before each edition came out.

Looking at the Starker version of the Second Suite, it doesn’t have five bars of chords. The fifth bar from the end is the same full-bar chord as the Anna Magdalena, but the next three bars are arpeggiated, just like the Grützmacher version shown in Lidström’s article, except that the first quaver of each bar is the chord. The last bar is just the chord for the full bar. Kind of a nice compromise. So, Starker already did what Lidström was suggesting.

Looking at the preface to my Starker edition, probably for the first time since I bought it, I see that Starker said: ‘I have personally admired many different performances of the same suites, and it amused me to no end when the performer and/or editor claimed his version to be “the” original or the closest to the original.

The Magdalena, Kellner and Westphal manuscripts all differ in details, therefore, any pretence of originality to Bach is purely fictitious. In short, I claim nothing else but the fact that most of the time this is the way I play these masterpieces.’

NICHOLAS A. CARLIN San Francisco, CA, US

VIOLISTS UNITED

Hanneke Willson’s letter to the editor (Soundpost, December 2021) resonated deeply with me. She is absolutely right about the alto clef, but to a great extent professional and amateur viola players are stuck with it. My problem is the way that in a lot of viola parts the treble clef keeps popping up, often only for a few bars. Sometimes the change of clef seems unnecessary because the music lies quite comfortably on the A string, requiring only a few leger lines. It can be very disconcerting when sightreading or learning a piece. Who decides where to change the clef, and how is the decision made? Please keep most, if not all, viola music in the alto clef, unless Hanneke’s revolution comes to pass!

PADDY FARRELL Deal, UK

STAR POWER

Classical musicians nowadays seem to choose faster tempos, allowing no space for a composer’s offering to be fully interpreted. Last movements, often full of happiness and joy, can be charged through at such speeds that sadly these feelings are lost. Modern audiences are so used to listening to CDs without blemishes because recording crews do their jobs! Many instrumentalists, though, kowtowing to a need for this same perfection in the concert hall, tend towards careful and therefore stilted performances which lack true expression. Instead of translating the dots on the page into the sounds that the composer had originally intended, it seems the focus is on showing off one’s glittering technique. Concerto performers especially seem guilty of the ‘speed trend’; hence the composer’s intentions being swallowed up in a plethora of unmusical grey notes. Sadly, audiences clap wildly when captivated by the speed merchant’s technical ability, reinforcing the requirement for a hell-bent race. Notes in fast runs are lost because there is simply no time to fit them all in!

Perhaps one should ponder why, prior to the 1800s hardly any ‘instructions’ were added to guide the player, whereas since the 1900s, composers tend to add numerous markings to ensure that their works will be performed as originally conceived.

NICOLA ANDERSON Oundle, Northamptonshire, UK

FAMILY MATTERS

It was with great interest that I read the online version of Maxim Vengerov’s article about Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante (Masterclass, February 2007). I find this composition heartbreakingly beautiful. When I first listened to it, it cast a spell over me, especially the version recorded in Vienna in 1972 with David and Igor Oistrakh (bit.ly/35BQzm5). The soloists and the orchestra sang with each other, while David led the orchestra. His tone was full, warm and tender. Igor played with expression and a beautiful tone.

In the first-movement Allegro maestoso, the soloists come in quietly from behind. This part is certainly majestic. What also strikes me is the crescendo at the end of the cadenza before the fortissimo at the end.

The second-movement Andante begins peacefully. When his solo begins, David Oistrakh puts focus on the twelfth note and separates the following notes clearly, with the rhythm undisturbed. When the orchestra is playing the longer fortes, David puts focus on the violins instead of the cellos, thus achieving long, undisturbed phrases. Igor’s trills in the middle of the Andante are enchanting. The ‘Presto’ explodes in fireworks. It demands great virtuosity. David and Igor Oistrakh (above right) have an abundance of that, and yet they do not put emphasis on it, but concentrate on the interpretation.

ULLA KORPI-ANTTILA Turku, Finland

TAPPING PHOTO MATT DINE

ONLINE COMMENT

Brazilian violist Danielli Johnson’s instrument was denied boarding on a Ryanair flight. But it was comments on the musician’s choice of airline that came in floods this time bit.ly/3GhsOw5

RUSANDA PANFILI Unfortunately this has been well known for many years. Whoever doesn’t know it and faces this situation is simply not informed. The least we can do is to check that the company allows instruments on board. Ryanair is a low-cost company but they have the right to their own rules.

ANITA SCHLEEBS I flew with Ryanair while in Europe and bought an extra ticket for my violin, only for the attendant to say I didn’t need to! Considering the violin went into the locker above, I really don’t understand the policy.

CLAUDIO LAURETI Unfortunately it is stated in their regulations.

RAYMOND WONG Let’s be fair here: Ryanair is very cheap. Even buying a seat for the viola won’t cost more than even half of a normal ticket.

COLIN CHARLES ADAMSON Easy – don’t fly with this airline!